Added flavouring?

Chennai, June 14: A chunk of beef with a sprinkling of aspirin makes mutton. Ahem, never mind the stomach-ache and nausea that follows a hearty biryani feast.

With goat meat at least four times costlier than beef ? mutton sells for around Rs 200 a kg and beef for Rs 50 here ? resourceful eatery owners have tossed up the concoction you won’t find in any cookbook.

At Rs 10 a plate, Dindigul biryani is a hit and the shop owners are making a killing.

The dhabawallahs packaged their new dish borrowing the good name of Dindigul ? known for its good-sized goats, shearing and leather industry.

And the customers are lapping it up, blissfully unaware that they are having beef ? the aspirin softens the flesh and allows it to pass off as mutton.

The thriving business first came to light in Tiruchirappalli ? the town famous for its Rock Fort temple ? when an alleged food adulteration racket was detected.

Many thought there could not be a better bargain than the dirt-cheap Dindigul biryani, until several people complained of stomach pain and nausea and reported to Tiruchirappalli Government Hospital.

On a quick investigation, the astounding mix came to light.

“This is the first time I have heard of aspirin tablets being mixed in beef,” Harminder Singh, the commissioner of the Tiruchirappalli Municipal Corporation, said today.

No one knows yet from where the eateries got the recipe ? said to be 15 tablets for every kilo of beef that is roasted on an oven.

Some 20 shops specialising in Dindigul biryani are now under the public health authority’s watch. A probe has been ordered and samples of the meat have been sent for testing at a food laboratory in Tirunelveli.

Singh said: “We are awaiting the results of the test and only on confirmation of its chemical contents can we take action against the roadside eateries claiming to sell Dindigul biryani.”